In recent years, there have been several attempts to develop a viable system for use in combat situations which would provide the modern soldier (or law enforcement officer etc.) with reliable enhanced tactical and communications ability in the hostile environment of armed conflict. In particular, attempts have been made to utilize technological advancement to provide an armed warrior with a system effective to improve the warriors lethality while simultaneously increasing his/her chances of survival. Unfortunately, previous attempts at developing such a system have been unacceptable in one respect or another.
One such attempt to create such a system is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,481, and is generally referred to as a Land Warrior (hereinafter “LW”) system. In the ′481 patent, a system is illustrated which combines a navigation, communication, and weapon system as a pre-packaged unit. This unit, as such, is further integrated into a specifically manufactured load carrying equipment (hereinafter referred to as “LCE”) which incorporates body armor for protecting the wearer of the system (eg. the soldier). This integration enables a soldier to wear the system like a rather bulky backpack. Further, the LCE of the ′481 patent functions as a platform for communication between the components of the LW system by fully integrating the wiring harness (for connecting the components) within its design.
In such a system, as described above, it is apparent that there are various drawbacks associated with its use and design. The design of the ′481 system, for example, requires the use of the specifically developed and manufactured Load Carrying Equipment both for the integrated wiring (needed to operably connect the components of the system) and to accommodate the unit nature of the system (ie. the components are integrated into a “seamless” unit) which was designed to be carried in the specially designed LCE. Thus, the ′481 system is not compatible and will not function with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) backpacks or government furnished equipment (GFE) ie. military issue vests or backpacks. Consequently, if the LCE of the aforementioned patent becomes dysfunctional or is otherwise rendered unusable, the entire system would be useless to a soldier (unless another LCE is available). In particular, this use requirement limits the very versatility such a system should be designed to achieve. This is because successful armed combat requires the utmost in flexibility and adaptability in order to provide a solider with a variety of options or avenues in each given combat or strategic situation.
Further to the issue of versatility, if a given component in the ′481 system is damaged, the component may not be as readily replaced or repaired as would be desired in such high stress and time-sensitive conditions. Because the components of the prior art ′481 system are enclosed within a metal shell structure on the LCE, they may not be accessed without removing the entire LCE from the wearer and opening up the shell. Further, once the interior of the metal shell of the LCE is accessed, the components of the prior art system are not easily removable and replaceable as would be preferred in such arduous and time-critical conditions ie. a component may not simply be unplugged and a new component plugged in. In addition, once the metal shell is open, every component within the shell is exposed to the elements rather than merely the component which must be accessed.
Still further, in wartime or other combat type situations, it is desirable that a soldier's equipment be tailorable to specific situations and or missions. This is because various types of missions require varying types of equipment. For example, if a specific component in such a system is not needed or desired because of the nature of a particular mission, it would be desirable to have the ability to quickly remove the unnecessary or unwanted component in order to reduce the weight of the system which the already burdened soldier must bear. Such a weight reduction can substantially improve the stamina and speed of a soldiers maneuvers, thus improving his/her chances of mission success. As aforesaid, the prior art ′481 system requires that the entire metal shell of the LCE be taken apart in order to access the functional components of the prior art Land Warrior system. Further, once the interior of the shell is accessed, components are not easily removed or replaced. Because of this particular design, the LW system of the ′481 patent is not well suited to a combat environment where equipment tailorability is needed.
As a further problem in the known Land Warrior system, no control device is provided which would enable a user to effectively and completely control the computer (and hence the system's components) while still allowing the user to maintain a combat ready stance and/or keep both hands on the weapon (preferably with access to the trigger). Instead there is provided in the LW system, only a simple, weapon-mounted switch which toggles between camera views (day or night views) and fires the attached laser range-finder.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need in the art for a new LW type system which either eliminates or substantially diminishes the drawbacks of the prior art. It is a purpose of this invention to provide such a system as well as to provide further improvements which will become more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.